The Peach Truck Blog

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With our offseason in full swing, our focus has been on rest and restoring.Well, that and the fact that we just welcomed our twin boys into the world at the end of September and now have three kids under two years old in our house!Life is such a wild ride! Always changing and always requiring our attention.

Stephen and I are so grateful to have these new additions to our family and have had many talks about the new normal we are living in. Here we are with such a beautiful gift and learning to thrive (rather than just survive) has been the goal. So far, so good. But really they just eat and sleep so I’m not sure we are in the craziness just yet!

Anyways, this last peach season we celebrated our 5th season as The Peach Truck. We have been moving towards that dream we had of freedom back in 2012 and have been building on it more and more over these years. This thing called seasonal living is a wonderful gift that we treasure, and yet like all things when it becomes normalized we can take advantage of it and lose our gratitude. This would be tragic.

We had a Skype conversation with our Core Team members the other day to catch up on offseason life. We shared our story about welcoming our boys, heard about travels taken, and honey do lists completed. It was a great time to reconnect in a more refreshed state. We talked about this seasonal living and how we each want to press into it. Being thoughtful about what feels meaningful and inspiring and what feels stagnant. The conversation was life giving and a clear reminder that people with great success in relationships, business, personal health, etc. didn’t happen to them. They were intentional and thoughtful. I want that for myself and our team. I want to be able to look back in five more years and see how much I have grown and changed for the better and from that living a richer more fulfilled life than ever.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, Stephen and I pause with deepest gratefulness for our three flourishing children and a team and community that love and inspire us to bust it every summer and provide Nashville and beyond with The Queen of Fruits, the Georgia Peach!

Where we are in life, a grateful heart is the perfect place to start any journey ahead!

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And now for another blog from our Freestone Tour Director, Rick Haley.

It is made of only three simple letters. It is not a fancy word. It is not difficult to pronounce, spell, or write. It is both important and powerful. What is this humble word?....WHY?

As I learn more and hopefully gain wisdom from folks way smarter than me, I find that this one question often separates those who are successful from those who are not. It is such a profound question. It makes us reflective, proactive, and often insightful. So where can we apply this word? Quite simply, the answer is everywhere. Let me share some practical examples of how WHY can change your life:

Why do you get up everyday and go to work?

Why do you believe the way you do about certain things, (religion, politics, etc.)?

Why do you have certain habits (both good and bad)?

Why do you save (or not save) money?

Why do you spend time the way you do?

Why are you so afraid?

Why don’t you try it?

Why haven’t you taken that trip?

Why haven’t you started that business?

Why do you like that book, movie, music, etc.?

...the list could go on and on.

As we plan for our season at The Peach Truck, we ask ourselves WHY about a million times. We question everything over and over. We want to make sure we are intentional about our business and how we serve our friends and customers.

Intentional...I think that is what asking WHY will make you. It is a very proactive question. It makes us seek answers instead of just accepting things the way they are. WHY is what has propelled the human race to improve. Someone asked, “WHY do so many people keep dying from this disease?”. Someone asked, “WHY is there not a better way to do this, build this, share this, etc.?”. Someone asked, “WHY can’t we go to the moon?”.

Our kids are natural at asking WHY. They ask WHY about everything around them. I want to challenge you to try this for a while. Question everything. Be more kid-like and ask yourself WHY? You just might be surprised at the answers.

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This is a post from our very own Director of Operations, Justin Rearden.

Peach season. It’s like running a marathon. An extremely hilly, challenging marathon. One in which you push yourself harder than you ever thought was possible. But, after all of the training and hard work, you cross the finish line and they hand you a medal and a cold beer. In this case, they hand you five months of freedom and exploration.

As a long distance runner and frequent marathoner, this is the closest I can even begin to explain what peach season is like. Before working for The Peach Truck, I worked in advertising and engineering consulting. These jobs, though challenging in their own ways, were like going for a stroll around a very small block compared to working for a seasonal peach business.

I love the hustle of this business. I love how we move quicker, push harder and dream bigger each season. When the peaches are picked in May, it’s like the gun going off at the start of a race. Working with one of the most temperamental fruits is bound to have challenges, just like a surprise hill in a race. But, we trained for this. We learn and hustle until, like a mirage in the distance, we cross the finish line.

The finish line for me is traveling the globe with my wife, Lyndi. I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop in Porto, Portugal listening to new sounds, tasting new things and most of all, seeing how others live their lives. Travel might not be your “finish line” but I urge you to train, stay hydrated and chase that dream. If it’s scary, chances are it’s worth it.

In the words of one of my greatest idols, Steve Jobs, “The greatest artists like Dylan, Picasso and Newton risked failure. And if we want to be great, we’ve got to risk it too.”

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Every year, we plan and dream of what the upcoming peach season will look like. We plan, prep, and get super excited for all the new things coming. There’s a sense in the air that we’ve got this…this year will be so much easier than the last. We’re learning and growing. It’s our 5th season. What can go wrong? Then the peaches are picked and we bring them to Nashville. The beginning of peach season is always full of excitement. We can’t believe we get to call this work!

A few weeks pass, and the heat of summer really starts to kick in. Visions of warm days at a farmers market sipping sweet tea feel like a far off dream, and a “13 week season” sounds more like a marathon than a sprint. Oh the continual baptism into this very real reality that peaches are dreamy AND demanding.

You would think that after 5 years we would understand this business, but as usual there is a sweet sobriety to this endeavor that kind of kicks you in the ass every year. Basically, these peaches own us. As much as we prep and plan and try with insane passion and focus to simplify and streamline processes, each summer has its new set of issues and problems to be solved. Heat waves, severe thunderstorms, and everything in between. New surprises and situations that need to be understood and handled properly and in a timely manner.

It drives us to a place of acceptance. Acceptance that in order to be great…like high quality every time, treating each person with respect and love, making things right for your team and your customers, being relevant. And the basics, like doing what you say you will do…you have to show up each day and work hard with relentless drive and focus. Welcome to business 101. There are zero short cuts to truly being great. And when you get there, you’ll still not be there. There’s always more to do and other ways to be better.

Do I sound like I’m complaining? I’m absolutely not. This post is for our team. For our team that started with Stephen and me in the summer of 2013. When we asked friends to help sling around town as we started growing this side hobby. This post is for every team from 2013 until now. It takes trusting people to make something beautiful. I truly Believe The Peach Truck is a beautiful addition to summer. From the fruit itself to the warmth of our service, I’m proud to say we are a good thing, and it’s because of the good people we have on our team summer after summer.

So, to you, Peach Truck team members past and present:

Thank you for your never-ending passion and relentless hard work every day, with every location, every email and customer, every farm to porch box, every detail, every request, and every single peach. You are The Peach Truck, and when you’re old and grey walking a market with your grandchildren, remember us and how grateful we are for your blood, sweat, and sometimes tears on those hot summer days. And tell those grand babies a few peach fun facts regardless of whether they’re listening. You’re a peach expert and you’ve got to pass this peach education along!

Stephen and I love you all so much and are deeply moved by your service to the peaches and our customers over these years! There is no way we could have made it here without each of you. With deepest admiration from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you!

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Show me a winning racecar driver and I’ll show you a great pit crew. Show me an amazingly skilled surgeon and I’ll show you a highly skilled support team of nurses and assistants. Show me super talented musicians, artists, dancers, actors, and writers…and I’ll show you a team of people who work tirelessly to “get those products to market”. Business is certainly no exception. Great people are great because they surround themselves with others able to help fulfill their dreams and visions.

As director of the Freestone Tour, I am responsible for a tour that will visit 254 location stops in six weeks, spanning five states from the bottom of TN to the Great Lakes. There is no way I could accomplish this herculean feat alone nor would I want to. The tour is only successful because we hire, train, and grow with the best folks on the planet. So what exactly does that look like? At The Peach Truck we have a simple philosophy on hiring that we follow very carefully: HIRE BASED ON CHARACTER AND TRAIN THE REST. I know that sounds simple, but it works. There are a few basic components to this recipe and I have listed them below.

Integrity- If you wouldn’t have the person come to your home and eat dinner with you and your family, thenyou shouldn’t hire them. You have to trust your team.

Work Ethic- It is nearly impossible to teach work ethic to an adult. Either they received this growing up or they didn’t. They must be willing to do any task regardless of title or position. They also have to consistently demonstrate a sense of ownership that shows they not only do their job, but go above and beyond without being called upon to do so.

Attitude- A person with a great attitude can change the world and be a part of something special. The exact opposite applies so be careful. A bad attitude is a cancer and will destroy any organization and should be addressed immediately.

Notice I did not mention technical abilities. Of course your team members must be able to perform, but that cannot be the only reason you hire them. When hiring, (especially for a seasonal business) we tend to want to check a “to do” off our list and go on with our day. This is a mistake. Take your time, sort through the people, do the work, and be picky. In the end you will build something that transcends yourself.

In 2012, Stephen and Jessica Rose (our founders) literally started with a pick-up truck, a load of peaches, and a vision of what could be. As they quickly discovered, they could only serve so many people by themselves. While I think we have the best peaches in the solar system, that is not what makes us The Peach Truck. It is our people and I am blessed every day to get walk side by side with such an amazing group of folks.